Pramuditā-bhūmi

pramuditā-bhūmi (T. rab tu dga’ ba རབ་ཏུ་དགའ་བ་; C. huanxi di) is translated as the "ground of joy," "joyous ground," etc. It is the first of the ten bodhisattva grounds (ten bhumis) according to the presentation in the Dasabhumika-sutra of the Sanskrit tradition.

Patrul Rinpoche states:

This is the first of the ten bhūmis of the noble bodhisattvas, the stage at which the truth of the reality of things is seen. It is therefore called the path of seeing. At this stage, there is also an experience of abundant bliss, unlike any known before: this bhūmi is therefore known as the stage of ‘Perfect Joy’.

At this stage, purifying the obscuration of avarice and its associated habitual tendencies, and perfecting the pāramitā of generosity, bodhisattvas gain twelve sets of one hundred qualities.

They are able to:

• enter into and arise from one hundred samādhi meditations in a single instant,
• see one hundred buddhas face to face, and receive their blessings,
• travel to one hundred buddha realms,
• cause one hundred world systems to shake,
• illuminate one hundred world systems,
• bring one hundred beings to complete maturity,
• manifest in one hundred aeons in a single instant,
• know one hundred aeons in the past and
• one hundred aeons in the future,
• open one hundred doors to the Dharma,
• manifest one hundred emanations, and
• for each of these bodies, manifest one hundred attendants.

At this stage, a bodhisattva can take birth as a ruler over Jambudvīpa.

A Guide to the Words of My Perfect Teacher states:

On the path of seeing is the first Bodhisattva level, called Perfect Joy, where the truth of dharmata is seen. Here, primal wisdom is realized directly, accomplishing our own benefit, and for the benefit of others we master meditative concentration and the power of miraculous transformation. By gaining miraculous powers such as expanding an instant into a kalpa and reducing a kalpa to an instant, we bring vast benefit to beings, and this is why this level is called Perfect Joy.

On the seven impure levels like this one, emotional obscurations are directly eliminated and conceptual obscurations are indirectly weakened. They are termed the seven impure levels because up to and including the seventh level the emotional consciousness is not eliminated. During the state of postmeditation, subtle self-centered thoughts may arise, but they are naturally purified or dissolved, and so selfish intentions are never acted out. This is why we talk about the “excellent and pure intention.”

Sources

• Khenpo Ngawang Pelzang (2011), A Guide to the Words of My Perfect Teacher, translated by Padmakara Translation Group, Shambhala 
• Patrul Rinpoche, A Brief Guide to the Stages and Paths of the Bodhisattvas, Lotsawa House